Once Upon A Time
by ringaroundtherollins
Summary: Amidst wedding preparations, Kalisto recalls his first date with Sin Cara. Rated F for Fluffy. Sinlisto with an appearance by Neville. One-shot.
_**A/N: For those of you who don't follow me on Tumblr, I have some news: their wedding date has been set! A three-shot [is that a thing? It's a thing now!] will be released as a complete set on Sunday, May fifteenth, depicting wedding preparations, the ceremony, and the reception. I absolutely cannot wait to bring this wonderful love story to you guys! Thank you for all your support! To hold you over until then, here's a ridiculously fluffy one-shot bringing the past into the present...enjoy. c:**_

* * *

Adrian Neville took a sip of his chai latte, then set his cup on the table and wiped a thumb over his lips before returning both hands to the keyboard on the laptop in front of him. Across the table, Kalisto was scrawling away on a formerly blank sheet of notebook paper, now soiled with lines and dashes and words over words over words. The Jazzy Planet Bistro was lively with business but neither Kalisto nor Neville could heed anything around them except themselves, each other, and the respective tasks at hand.

"I suck as a writer," Kalisto groaned, letting his hand rest as the pen rolled across the page.

"Surely not," Neville assured him. "Need any help? Or do you want to keep it a surprise?"

Kalisto smiled softly. "I don't need to keep this a secret from you. Just Cara. But man, I hate asking you for any more help. You've done so much for us already."

Neville put up a dismissive hand. "It's my pleasure, 'Listo. Planning a wedding is hard enough on its own. Let alone in just a few months. Let alone with our kind of work schedule."

"Tell me about it."

Neville had been expecting it but he was touched nevertheless when Kalisto and Sin Cara asked him to be the best man at their wedding. He'd taken on far more responsibilities than the average best man: he'd helped them organize the guest list, fashion invitations together and send them out. Fortunately they worked with most of their guests and there weren't very many anyway, compared to other weddings. "Snail mail" wasn't necessary to carry these to the invitees. Only a couple.

Neville's computer dinged with a new email. He was also taking charge of the RSVPs. Amazingly, he was actually receiving a great deal of them so far. Attending a wedding was special, but it seemed an impossible task these days to get people to simply _respond_ to anything. Especially email.

He took another sip of tea and smiled into his cup when he read who it was from. "Guess who's coming to your wedding?"

"You."

"No, sorry, afraid not. I've got plans."

"Bastard. You're fired!"

Neville chuckled. "Rey Mysterio."

Kalisto's heart lifted. He'd been reaching for his pen but Neville's revelation caused him to freeze in stance. "Seriously? He answered?"

"He said he couldn't wait and he's very excited for the two of you."

Kalisto pushed a breath out. "Man…that's an honor. He's one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, and he's coming to _my_ wedding."

"I don't see why he wouldn't. He has a great deal of respect for you, too."

Kalisto was naturally flattered by the reminder. "Still. It's awesome."

"Do you need help with your vows?" Neville offered again.

Kalisto's eyes cemented on the words his brain had produced so far. All he saw was a heap of pathetic crap. "I'll get there eventually."

"'Listo, whatever you write, Cara is going to be heartened. I _know_ that. Just be real. Be honest. Speak from your heart. Think about how much he means to you, and all you want to declare to him for the rest of your days together."

Kalisto recovered the pen. Instead of writing, he tapped the edge on the bottom of the page. His head swayed weakly to the song that'd just come on over the speakers. Neville considered his motion.

"You like this song?"

"Yeah, I do."

"You're my best friend in the world but I never knew you had a thing for Taylor Swift."

Kalisto giggled. "Not necessarily her in general. Just this song. It means a lot to me."

Neville listened to the chorus. " _Do you remember, we were sitting there by the water?_ _You put your arm around me for the first time. You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter. You are the best thing that's ever been mine_ …"

"Makes you think about Sin Cara, huh?"  
Kalisto smiled helplessly. " _Si_. And our first date. It came on the radio in the car."

"I remember that night."

"I'll never forget it." He downed a gulp of coffee, then regathered his attention to his vow-writing. Thinking of that night was the spark he needed to start writing again, and feel better about all he was saying. All he was going to vow to Cara.

* * *

 **May 3rd** **, 2015**

"Just how many times are you going to change?" Neville asked from Kalisto's bed. He rubbed a spoiled Lucha Kitty's head while the kitten nodded off into slumber.

Kalisto's voice shot from the closet: "As many times as it takes to find the right outfit."

"He's crazy," Neville noted to the cat. Lucha Kitty probably agreed. "I thought you had one picked out already," he said, louder, to his lovesick friend.

"I did. But it was too plain. He sees me in t-shirts and jeans every day."

"He sees you _half-naked_ every day. Whatever you wear, he'll think you look great."  
Kalisto materialized in the doorway, shirtless, pants unfastened. His blue mask held on through every ensemble change. "Am I freaking out about this?"

"No," Neville sighed, giving into a smile. "It's your first date with Sin Cara, and you just want things to be absolutely perfect. But that's not going to be based on whether you wear a t-shirt or a button-up or a crew neck. This is a man who loves you, not your wardrobe."

"You're right." He picked a previously discarded shirt off the floor. "I _do_ want everything to be absolutely perfect."

"You want me to pick an outfit out for you?"

"No." Kalisto laughed. "I can handle picking my own clothes out. I think."

"Well, hurry it up, then. You only have two hours until he's supposed to pick you up."

"Only two hours? I'll never be ready in time!"

"I was joking."

"So was I." Kalisto grinned.

Neville tapped his shoulder, then gently pushed him towards the closet. "Come on. Don't stress over it, don't even think about it. Just dress comfortably and know you don't have to try to impress him. He's nuts about you."

Kalisto disappeared back into the closet. "I still can't believe it. I've been in love with him for, what, a year now? And look where I'm at. He loves me back. And we're _dating_."

Neville stretched over the bed on his back, reclining as lazily as the kitty. While Kalisto continued verbally pouring over the new relationship, Neville typed out a text message to Sin Cara.

 ** _[I hope you realize how lucky you are to have him. He's adorable the way he can't shut the hell up about you.]_**

"Black or purple?" Kalisto's head poked out of the closet.

"I'll make you wear a clown suit if you can't pick."

"Purple it is."

Neville's phone buzzed. **_[I know I am._** ** _I'll never take him for granted.]_**

 ** _[Good. Or else I'll make you wear a clown suit.]_**

 ** _[?]_**

 ** _[Never mind. See you in a bit.]_**

Kalisto reappeared, fully dressed at last, donning dark blue jeans and a purple button-up shirt under a gray lightweight v-neck sweater. The weather was warm but nights could be cool everywhere. He loved faking a chill and wearing Cara's jacket, but he didn't want to be obnoxious about it.

"What do you think?" Kalisto asked, stretching his arms out.

"I like it. Very handsome, 'Listo."

" _Gracias, amigo_."

Kalisto accessorized next: a stainless steel watch, leather loafers, a silver Catholic crucifix necklace, a spritz of cologne on each side of his neck. He could feel his pulse everywhere: wrists, neck, chest of course. Even his toes were feeling a bit of heat. He was nervous.

But why? This was no ordinary first date. He and Sin Cara were as together as two men could be without wedding bands: they'd already kissed, they'd had sex, they'd confessed love for one another…yet it was so nerve-wracking. This was going beyond their professional relationship, a connection outside work and hanging out and sleeping in separate hotel beds.

This was real. And scary. And wonderful.

The relationship was new and alive. And it was going forward.

Progress.

"How do I look?" Kalisto asked at the end of his self-pampering session. He spun around to give Neville a full view.

"Beautiful, 'Listo. And I try to save that word for special occasions."

Kalisto's face flared up with a cheesy grin. "Thanks. I hope he thinks so, too."

"He will."

Kalisto and Neville occupied themselves with _Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare_. Neville had the couch to himself as Kalisto didn't even want to sit down in fear of crinkling his outfit. When the doorbell rang, two minutes before Sin Cara's "scheduled" time to arrive, Kalisto paused the game and filled his chest with oxygen.

"Showtime," Neville said.

Kalisto ambled towards the front door. Neville was right behind him.

Hand on the lock, Kalisto turned to his friend. "Should I have gotten him a present?"

"I wasn't kidding about that clown suit. It's never too late."

Kalisto laughed. He pulled the door open.

Sin Cara was also masked, commonly, faithfully. His mask coordinated with the white shorts and red polo shirt he sported. Kalisto would always swoon over the gorgeous man under the mask, but keeping the tradition of the _luchador_ , he wasn't any less handsome this way.

" _Buenas tardes_ ," Sin Cara said. His hands, hidden behind his back, moved ahead to reveal a small bouquet of flowers. Kalisto recognized roses within sunflowers, tulips, and carnations. A beautiful, colorful, springtime spray.

"For me, Cara?" Neville joked, reaching for the flowers. "You shouldn't have."

"What the hell, man, get flowers for my best friend but not for me?" Kalisto asked, grinning through a _tisk_ of his tongue. "That's messed up."

"I got you a fruitcake. It's in the car," Sin Cara said.

Kalisto partially closed the door as if to lock Cara out. He abandoned the teasing before Sin Cara could, pulling it open again, then leaning into Cara's arms for a hug. Sin Cara put his face to Kalisto's head like to kiss him through the material of both masks.

"Hi," Kalisto said.

"Hi."

He took the flowers at last. "Thank you, Cara. These are beautiful. I'll be right back." He spun around, power-walking to the kitchen to settle them into a vase of water.

"So what do you kids have planned for the afternoon?" Neville asked.

"I'm taking him to the beach. Clearwater. Really pretty place. It shouldn't be too crowded, so we can just hang around, grab some lunch, take a walk."

"Not a bad pick for the first date. I'm impressed."

"I figured this isn't the time we try to 'get to know each other.' Since I already know…well, a lot about him." Sin Cara laughed. "It shouldn't be awkward."

"Nah, I don't think there's anything uncomfortable between the two of you anymore, so you're already off to a great start. Like I said. You're lucky."

"I am."

Kalisto returned without the flowers. "Could you make sure Lucha Kitty doesn't knock that vase over?" he requested of Neville. "He likes to get on the counter."

"Hey, I'm a pretty lenient babysitter. Rules go out the window when I'm around."

"Knowing Lucha Kitty, he'll probably sleep until you get home," Sin Cara said. "He won't even know about the vase until he's awake later tonight."

"Look at him, catching onto everything already," Neville teased. He gave Kalisto a half-hug, then patted Cara's shoulder. "Take care."

He opened the door for the couple and shut it behind him.

"He's hanging around here while we're out?" Sin Cara asked.

"My house is his home away from home. Considering his home is over four-thousand miles away."

"I guess that makes sense. Good to know he's got that sense of comfort with you."

"Jealous?" Kalisto asked, partially joking, partially legitimately curious.

"Oh, no, not at all. I trust you, and I trust him."

"Oh…well, that's a relief."

"He's very protective of you. Your friendship is strong. I respect that."

"And I respect you for respecting that." Kalisto smiled. The sun bounded off his eyes, stinging his sight. It was a beautiful day but sometimes he wished he could wear sunglasses _and_ his mask.

Sin Cara unlocked the car, then held the door open for Kalisto.

"Such a gentleman," Kalisto said.

Cara started the engine. Kalisto bopped his head to the pop song on the radio, and Sin Cara turned the music down a bit.

"So where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise."

"You and your surprises." Kalisto laughed.

"I could tell you, if you were dying to know."

"Oh, I didn't say I was against your surprises. I just know you like to hide things."

"Not necessarily. I like to consider myself an open book…y'know. For someone who fights in a mask."

Kalisto was working to control his heart rate. It still thumped frantically even with a normal conversation, for them, in full swing. "Please. You're a mystery man. I'm sure you've got all kinds of secrets."

"Nope. If you don't know something about me, just ask, and I'll tell you."

"Okay. This could get interesting. Hmm…" Kalisto watched street lines rush by in white blurs, traffic pass in zooming impatience. "Was I your first?"

Sin Cara hesitated. Kalisto braced for an answer he, perhaps, wasn't actually after. "No. But." Cara moved his hand onto Kalisto's knee. "You were my best. And I couldn't want anyone else more."

"Really?" Kalisto unwound from the inside out. There you go. Just relax. This is Cara, not a stranger. This is wonderful.

"Es verdad."

"Well, I'm all yours."

Sin Cara stole a kiss at a red light. He was smiling even before pulling the mask up just enough to expose his lips, which fastened with Kalisto's.

After a prolonged commercial break, the music returned. Taylor Swift's "Mine" filled the car quietly.

"What about you?" Kalisto asked. "You want to poke and probe my mind for answers, too?"

"I think I've got you all figured out."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. I've worked with you for some time now. You get to know a guy after a while."

"Let's put that to the test," Kalisto challenged. "What's my favorite band?"

"Staind."

"Favorite song?"

"'Zoe Jane.'"

"Hmm." He considered a question that might not have been brought up very often, secretly praising Taylor Swift's lyrics that could ring true in his own life. _You are the best thing that's ever been mine_ … "What's my pet peeve?"

"You may have a lot, but probably when your opponent goes for your mask."

"Ugh, that isn't even the one I had in mind, but you're right. So disrespectful."

"What's the one you had in mind?"

"When people pick on me because of my size."

"Oh. I see that more of a grievance, not a pet peeve. That's really frustrating."

"It is."

"Well, I can say for a fact that you're anything but small in many areas, Kali."

Kalisto's cheeks flushed deep red. He felt like burying his face in his hands, but he absorbed the compliment. "Damn, I love you."

"Love you, too."

Kalisto considered the rest of the song, but with his own lyrics in mind, lyrics that related to him and his love life even more specifically.

 _Every time I look at you, it's like the first time. I fell in love with a strong, handsome Lucha Dragon. He is the best thing that's ever been mine._

The song was over by the time Sin Cara parked in a lot bordering Clearwater Beach. The air was steamy and brackish. The absolute earliest of dusk's colors were concocting in the high sky for a portrait of evening.

"The place is ours," Sin Cara said outside the car. "Ignore everyone else. They don't exist. Do you want to eat first, or walk around?"

"I'd love to just walk, but…" Kalisto wished he'd asked about the surprise. He could have worn more appropriate shoes.

"No worries. I came prepared." Sin Cara popped the trunk open and fished out a pair of sandals, as well as a large tote bag stuffed with towels and sunscreen. "They may be a little big on you."

"They're just fine," Kalisto said, trading his nicer shoes for Cara's beach-apposite shoes. "Thank you, amor."

"Si. I love it when you call me that."

Kalisto wondered when Sin Cara would think it right to hold his hand, but he didn't have to wonder long. Cara braided his fingers within Kalisto as soon as they were over the barricade separating blacktop from the powdery shore. There was no rush, not like working where if you weren't fighting, you were travelling to fight and if you weren't travelling, you were resting to travel. This was more peace than he'd felt in a while, and he didn't mind sharing with his partner, his boyfriend. This might not have been heaven but it came pretty damn close to earth, to Kalisto.

He could never tire of this environment. The vocal birds dashing by on a hunt for food, the smell of roasting beachside snacks and the salty sea air, the gentle kiss of a cool wave lapping over his toes. The feel of Cara's hand in his own.

Kalisto caught Sin Cara rolling up the bottom of his mask again, so what was coming up wasn't too big of a surprise; yet he squealed when Cara unexpectedly lifted him into his strong arms and kissed him there. Kalisto was dazed, so much so that he nearly fell over when Cara set him on the ground again.

"Sorry," Cara said. "Couldn't resist. You're just…so beautiful."

"I'm not."

"You're not what? Beautiful?"

"No. I'm not sorry."

It prompted Cara to lift him up and kiss him again. Kalisto was giggling as if drunk on fine wine.

The Lucha Dragons selected a spot near an aging palm tree. Sin Cara laid out a single humongous towel, which he and Kalisto only rested upon for a few moments before Kalisto was up again.

"I should have listened to Neville," he said. "I didn't need to dress up all fancy for today."

"I guess I could have let you know that," Sin Cara said, wincing.

"No, no, it's fine. Gives me a chance to do this." He ended up casting his shirts aside, unconcerned about getting the bottoms of his jeans a bit wet from the ocean. Sin Cara downed the dazzling sight of him. He saw Kalisto shirtless plenty of times, sure. But this occasion was reserved just for him. It was that much more special. And Kalisto was never not wonderful to look at, admire…crave.

"Come and get me, _carnal_ ," Kalisto challenged, drawing away from Cara and towards the water by a couple of steps. "I'm too quick for the tall and muscled."

"Oh, you're challenging me?" Cara hopped to his feet and clapped his hands together. "Bring it on, _amorcito_."

Kalisto nearly swooned enough over the pet name to catch himself distracted and caught by Sin Cara. He darted away as Cara chased him, laughing which only slowed him down. Sin Cara rushed at him, opening his arms to swallow him in a hold. He spun Kalisto around, locking him in a grip that was as loving as it was dominating.

"I've got you!" Cara said. "And nobody's allowed to mess with you but me."

"What'll you do to anyone else who messes with me?"

"Senton bomb their ass."

Kalisto revered his heroics. "What if I'm in a match against Viktor or Konnor, one-on-one, and you can't be at ringside?"

"I'd have all my faith in you to beat him. But you know I'd be backstage ready to jump out as soon as anything happened."

"Even if it cost me the match?"

"I thought you were the optimistic one. Quit being so self-destructive in these fantasies."

Kalisto laughed. "You'd never let anything happen to me?"

"Never," Cara vowed, tone somber.

"God, I love you."

Sin Cara put a hand on Kalisto's head. "I love you…more than I thought I could ever love anyone or anything."

Kalisto melted on the beach by no utility of the sunshine and the springtime heat.

They capered back and forth towards the waves and away from them. Kalisto would bait Sin Cara to chase him but Cara always caught up, caught him, ending the pursuit with kisses and hugs. Towards dinnertime the races turned into long strides up and down the shoreline, hand-in-hand. They grabbed dinner at a cozy little shore restaurant and Sin Cara made sure he paid for both of them.

"Gentleman again," Kalisto praised.

Sin Cara basked in his admiration. The way he did when he first met Kalisto, when he realized his biggest fan was a fellow wrestler, but this was extreme. This was his heart now, his partner, his other half.

His better half.

Kalisto fit into him in ways Sin Cara didn't realize were broken, empty, lacking. Kalisto made him feel whole…in a way that made him understand he'd been so lonely before yet never really grasped it until this man entered his life.

He hadn't been happy until Kalisto came along.

He hadn't known just how pathetic he felt as a human until Kalisto reaffirmed him of his confidence.

Sin Cara didn't just want Kalisto. He needed him.

As for Kalisto?

Falling in love wasn't a one-time thing. He fell in love with Sin Cara when he talked. When he paid for dinner. He fell in love with Cara when he held the door open, pulled out a chair. Spoke of how he would always protect Kalisto. Kalisto had been fine before Cara.

Now?

Now was a time of security…and vulnerability. He felt strengthened and weakened by Cara. Strengthened knowing he had a good partner to look after, to look after him in return. Weakened by that foolish, wonderful, daunting little thing they called love.

He was prepared to remain in this clashing place as long as Cara would allow.

After dinner Sin Cara and Kalisto headed back to the tree. Both were tired but the date was not over. They rested together over the towel, tangled within one another's arms, watching bands of pink and orange crisscross from one end of the earth to the other, suspended over a mighty ocean.

Sin Cara was Kalisto's pillow. Kalisto was Cara's teddy bear.

"Can I ask you something I don't know yet?" Cara asked.

" _Claro que si_ ," Kalisto said. "I'm like you. Open book. Ask away."

"Alright. You said you looked up to me, back in the NXT. Watched my matches. I was…your idol."

Kalisto nodded. To consider himself someone's idol was both flattering and extraordinary.

"How much of me have you seen then, exactly? Like…did you watch me during the whole… _Azul y Negro_ thing?"

"Yeah, actually, funny story. I screamed when you lost against him in that mask versus mask match."

That was a time that would haunt Sin Cara for the rest of his days. It had been the lowest of all low points in his professional career…a time of utter shame and dishonor. "Oh, uh…did you?"

"I was going for you."

"That's sweet, Kali."

"Yeah. Actually…another confession, I couldn't…well, I didn't want to bring myself to see…what—what you looked like. After you lost your mask."

Shadows tormented Sin Cara. Demons crept from the corners of his mind.

"At the time I was busy with my own wrestling career, but…it was a good excuse not to see you. I don't know, I thought seeing my favorite luchador without what made him a luchador would be…I don't know. A disgrace or something. I made myself avoid it. Then I ended up catching you in action later on, in the mask again. You were him. Who you were meant to be. Sin Cara. The real Sin Cara. My Sin Cara. And soon enough, you literally were my Sin Cara. My partner."

Kalisto was the sole angel fighting off those demons now. How badly Sin Cara needed a hero of his own…

Kalisto tucked his hand under Sin Cara's, atop his stomach. "I know who you were. I know who you are. What you're about, who you're becoming. And I love that man. All of him. All parts. Past…present…future."

Sin Cara was broken by his words. Humbled. "Thank you, Kali. It means…you mean so much to me."

Stars uncovered themselves in the darkening sky one by one. Kalisto snuggled against Sin Cara's strong form.

"You'll always be my hero. You are the best thing that's ever been mine."

Sin Cara kissed his head. "Thank you, Kali…thank you for everything…"

They ended up falling asleep listening to the waves and the relaxed breaths of one another. Sin Cara would take Kalisto home later on and Kalisto would recount the night to Neville, not leaving out a single detail. He'd keep the flowers, search online how to preserve them, and hold onto them until the present day…until the first date was only a memory yet such a crucial point in their relationship, when Kalisto could truly tell himself this was where he was meant to be. Where he wanted to be. With Sin Cara.

If that meant forever, he was anxious for _forever_ to begin.

* * *

Neville was grinning like a fool over Kalisto's notebook.

"What do you think?" Kalisto sensed he knew the answer but he was eager to hear the pronouncement from his friend.

"I love it…it's beautiful, Kalisto, you really hit me in the heart with it." He returned Kalisto's completed vows back to him. "Cara just might cry at the altar after that one."

"Well, that's the plan." Kalisto laughed. "I know I'll be crying, so. It's only fair." He secured his vows by closing his notebook gently.

"I can't wait for this wedding, and I'm not even the one getting married. I'm just so happy for you."

"Me too." Kalisto closed his eyes, remembering the beach, the warmth, the first date of hundreds and hundreds…the start of a journey. The song wrapped its meaning around his heart and brought power to the reminiscence.

 _I love you, Cara. I do. I really, truly do. Still today, and always, you are the best thing that's ever been mine._


End file.
